There's A Lot of Status Quo in Attitudes Towards Washington

Only one in five Americans believe their Member of Congress deserves to be re-elected

NEW YORK, N.Y. - March 24, 2014 - There is the old saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same." And, in the world of Washington, D.C., that definitely seems to be the case. The President is on the road touting the last days to sign up for the Affordable Care Act. There is an actual consensus on something between Congressional leaders and the White House, in the belief that Russia may be overstepping their authority with regard to Ukraine and Crimea. Also, while Mother Nature hasn't quite caught up yet in a large part of the country, the calendar, at the very least, says that it is Spring, so that should be something to celebrate, right? Yet, what is staying the same is Americans' attitudes towards the President, Congress and the direction of the country.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll® of 2,234 adults surveyed online between March 12 and 17, 2014.

So, just like in February, this month, just over one third of U.S. adults (35%) give the President positive ratings on his overall job performance while 65% give him negative ratings. Looking at how partisans feel, 4% of Republicans and 9% of Conservatives give the President positive ratings, as do 67% of both Democrats and Liberals. Among Independents, just over one-quarter (27%) give him positive marks while over one-third of Moderates (37%) give President Obama positive ratings.

Perceptions of Congress also haven't changed, as more than nine in ten Americans (92%) give them negative ratings again this month while 8% give them positive ratings. While Republicans and Independents are in the low single digits for their positive ratings (4% and 5% respectively), it's interesting that more than one in ten Democrats (12%) give Congress positive ratings.

And, consistent with last month, one-third of Americans (34%) say things in the country are going in the right direction while two-thirds (66%) say things have gotten off on the wrong track. When asked what the two most important issues for the government to address are, 29% of Americans each say Healthcare (not Medicare), including Obamacare/ACA - which is down from 42% who said this in December - and Employment/Jobs, which is up from 27% who said this in December. Rounding out the top five most important issues to address are the economy (non-specific) at 25% (up from 24% in December), budget deficit/national debt (13%, down from 16%), and budget/government spending (9%, down from 14%).

Individual Members of the House

Looking at the overall job that their Member of the House of Representatives is doing, one in five Americans (21%) give them a positive rating while 68% give them a negative one and 11% say they aren't familiar enough with their Member to rate them. In January, 20% gave their Member positive ratings while 68% gave them negative marks, so these figures are almost unchanged.

Looking at the upcoming election, half of U.S. adults (51%) say, in thinking about their Member of Congress, that it's time to give someone else a chance and one in five (20%) believe their Congressperson deserves to be re-elected; three in ten (29%) are not at all sure. This is also not much changed from January, when 52% said it was time to give someone else a chance and 20% believed their Congressperson deserved to be re-elected.

"Generally speaking, would you say things in the country are going in the right direction or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?"

Base: All adults

TREND

Right Direction

Wrong Track

%

%

2014

March

34

66

February

34

66

January

31

69

2013

December

33

67

November

30

70

October

20

80

September

29

71

July

34

66

May

39

61

2012

March

34

66

January

27

73

2011

August

16

84

May

39

61

2010

December

29

71

April

39

61

2009

August

46

54

January

19

72

2008

October

11

83

February

23

69

2007

December

18

74

February

29

62

2006

May

24

69

February

32

59

2005

November

27

68

January

46

48

2004

September

38

57

June

35

59

2003

December

35

57

June

44

51

2002

December

36

57

June

46

48

2001

December

65

32

June

43

52

2000

October

50

41

June

40

51

1999

June

37

55

March

47

45

1998

December

43

51

June

48

44

1997

December

39

56

April

36

55

1996

December

38

50

June

29

64

1995

December

26

62

June

24

65

1994

December

29

63

June

28

65

1993

June

21

70

March

39

50

1992

June

12

81

January

20

75

1991

December

17

75

January

58

32

TABLE 6

INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF CONGRESS' OVERALL JOB RATING

"How would you rate the overall job your Member of the House of Representatives is doing?"

Base: All adults

Nov

2013

Dec

2013

Jan

2014

March

2014

Political Party

Political Ideology

Rep.

Dem.

Ind.

Cons.

Mod.

Lib.

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

POSITIVE

19

20

20

21

22

25

19

21

19

28

Excellent

3

4

4

4

5

4

3

5

3

4

Pretty good

15

17

17

17

16

20

16

16

16

24

NEGATIVE

71

69

68

68

71

61

73

71

70

58

Only fair

31

31

34

34

37

32

35

35

37

25

Poor

39

38

34

34

34

29

38

36

33

33

Not familiar enough to rate

11

11

12

11

8

14

8

8

11

14

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 7

RE-ELECT MEMBER OF CONGRESS?

"Thinking about your Member of the House of Representatives, do you think…?"

Base: All adults

Nov

2013

Jan

2014

Mar.

2014

Political Party

Political Ideology

Rep.

Dem.

Ind.

Cons.

Mod.

Lib.

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

It's time to give someone else a chance

52

52

51

54

50

53

50

53

48

Your Congressperson deserves to be re-elected

17

20

20

23

20

18

23

16

25

Not at all sure

31

28

29

23

29

29

27

31

27

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 8

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE - TREND

"What do you think are the two most important issues for the government to address?"

Spontaneous, unprompted replies

Base: All adults

'97

'98

'99

'00

'01

'02

'03

'04

'05

'06

'07

'08

'09

'10

'11

'12

'13

'13

'13

14

May

Jan

Feb

Aug

Dec

Dec

June

Oct

Aug

June

Oct

Oct

Mar

Jan

May

Mar

Mar

Sept

Dec

Mar

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

Healthcare (not Medicare) including Obamacare/ACA

10

11

12

15

5

10

14

18

11

12

25

22

25

45

18

21

23

33

42

29

Employment/jobs

5

3

4

4

7

8

8

10

3

7

5

5

21

31

33

36

26

27

27

29

The economy (non-specific)

8

9

7

5

32

34

25

28

19

14

13

64

50

32

29

30

27

26

24

25

Budget deficit/National debt

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

3

X

17

11

16

12

16

13

Budget/Government spending

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

5

6

2

6

7

9

7

20

10

14

9

Immigration

2

1

*

1

1

1

2

2

3

20

12

3

4

5

10

5

9

8

8

9

Education

15

14

21

25

12

11

13

7

8

7

6

6

5

5

7

7

6

6

8

6

Taxes

14

16

12

13

6

5

11

8

5

4

3

6

4

4

4

7

9

5

6

8

Income gap/Wealth distribution/Middle class

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

*

1

2

4

4

Environment

3

2

3

3

1

3

2

1

3

3

3

2

3

3

2

2

3

2

2

4

Foreign policy (non-specific)

3

5

4

3

2

4

2

3

2

2

4

2

3

2

1

2

2

3

2

4

(Programs for) the poor/ poverty

3

2

2

3

1

2

3

*

4

4

4

*

1

2

2

1

2

4

3

3

Wars/Armed conflicts

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

6

4

3

5

2

3

Bipartisanship

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

2

2

3

2

Social security

6

6

24

16

3

2

4

4

10

5

3

3

1

1

3

3

3

4

3

2

Human/civil/women's rights

2

1

*

1

1

1

*

1

1

1

2

*

*

1

1

2

1

2

1

2

Military/defense

2

2

2

4

4

1

5

3

1

4

2

2

2

1

1

2

1

2

1

2

Welfare

14

8

4

2

1

1

3

*

3

1

2

*

*

*

*

1

1

1

1

2

Infrastructure

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

*

1

1

1

2

Homeland/domestic security/public safety

X

X

X

X

8

9

3

6

2

2

2

1

2

1

1

1

X

2

2

2

Terrorism

X

X

X

X

22

17

11

7

7

4

4

3

4

6

4

1

1

1

1

1

Ethics in government

*

*

*

*

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

*

1

1

1

1

1

Crime/violence

19

13

8

10

1

2

3

1

3

2

2

1

*

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

National security

X

X

2

2

6

3

6

5

2

2

2

5

2

4

1

1

2

1

*

1

Homelessness

4

4

3

3

2

2

1

*

1

1

3

*

*

1

*

*

*

1

*

1

Gas and oil prices

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

10

8

2

1

1

*

12

12

2

1

*

1

Downsizing government

X

X

X

1

*

X

X

1

*

1

1

*

1

2

1

2

1

1

*

1

Business accountability/bailouts

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

*

*

2

1

*

1

Energy

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

4

4

1

4

3

1

2

3

1

1

1

1

Same sex rights

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

2

*

*

1

1

*

1

1

1

1

1

Obama/president

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

*

*

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Russia/Putin/Ukraine

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

(The) war

X

X

X

X

12

18

8

35

41

27

24

14

9

2

*

X

*

*

2

*

NSA/Privacy issues

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

*

1

*

Gun laws/control

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

4

3

1

*

Medicare

4

5

5

6

1

1

4

3

2

1

3

2

*

*

2

1

1

1

1

*

Housing

X

X

X

X

X

1

1

*

*

1

2

2

6

1

1

2

1

*

*

*

Inflation

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

2

3

*

1

*

1

1

*

*

*

*

Abortion

2

2

2

6

1

1

1

4

2

1

2

1

1

1

*

*

1

*

*

*

Afghanistan

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

*

1

*

*

*

*

Religion (decline of)

*

1

*

1

2

1

1

1

*

1

1

*

*

*

*

1

*

*

*

*

Programs for the elderly (not Medicare/Social Security)

1

1

1

2

1

1

3

*

*

*

1

1

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Iraq

*

*

1

X

X

11

3

9

6

8

14

7

2

2

*

*

*

*

*

*

Syria crisis

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

2

X

X

Sequester

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

X

X

X

Other

8

19

2

19

3

8

8

8

1

6

5

15

5

1

3

8

8

8

8

6

Not sure/refused/no issue

9

12

16

18

11

10

12

9

8

6

8

4

4

2

4

2

2

3

2

4

* = Less than 0.5%, X = Not mentioned as specific issue; Note: Prior to March, 2009, this question was asked via telephone

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between March 12 and 17, 2014 among 2,234 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, The Harris Poll avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Poll surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of The Harris Poll.

Product and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

The Harris Poll®#27, March 24, 2014

By Regina A. Corso, SVP, The Harris Poll and Public Relations Research

About Nielsen & The Harris Poll

On February 3, 2014, Nielsen acquired Harris Interactive and The Harris Poll. Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence and mobile measurement. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.